Copyright Policy

Overview

AIMRO's copyright policy is grounded in the current guidance of the United States Copyright Office. We are committed to ensuring that all works registered on our platform meet the legal standards for copyrightability under U.S. law, while empowering AI music creators to protect and monetize their creative contributions.

U.S. Copyright Office Position on AI-Generated Works

The U.S. Copyright Office has established that copyright protection requires human authorship. Content generated entirely by artificial intelligence — without meaningful human creative input — is not eligible for copyright registration. This position was reinforced in the Office's February 2023 guidance on works containing AI-generated material, and further clarified in its August 2023 Federal Register notice on "Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence."

However, the Copyright Office has also made clear that works that combine AI-generated elements with sufficient human authorship may be copyrightable — to the extent of the human-authored contributions. This means that selection, arrangement, curation, and creative modification of AI outputs can constitute protectable authorship.

How This Applies to AI Music on AIMRO

At AIMRO, we require all creators to document their human creative contribution for every registered work. This is not merely a formality — it is the legal foundation for your work's copyrightability and, by extension, its eligibility for royalty collection.

Examples of human creative contributions that may support copyrightability include:

• Prompt engineering & iterative refinement — crafting detailed, specific prompts and making intentional creative decisions through multiple iterations to achieve a desired musical result
• Selection & arrangement — choosing from among multiple AI-generated outputs and arranging them into a cohesive composition
• Post-production & mixing — applying human-directed equalization, effects processing, mixing, mastering, or other audio editing
• Lyric writing — composing original lyrics that are combined with AI-generated musical elements
• Melodic or harmonic modification — altering, extending, or re-harmonizing AI outputs to create new original expression
• Structural composition — determining the overall structure, transitions, dynamics, and arc of the work

What Is Not Copyrightable

Under current U.S. Copyright Office guidance, the following are not sufficient to establish copyrightability:

• Simply typing a short, generic prompt (e.g., "make a pop song") with no further creative involvement
• Selecting a single unmodified AI output without creative curation or arrangement
• Using AI to generate a work and claiming authorship solely based on the idea or concept behind the prompt

The Copyright Office has emphasized that merely being the person who initiates an AI process does not make one the "author" of the resulting output. The key question is whether the human had sufficient creative control over the expressive elements of the work.

AIMRO's Registration Requirements

To register a work on AIMRO, creators must:

1. Identify the AI tool(s) used in the creation process
2. Provide a detailed human creative contribution statement (minimum 20 characters) describing their specific creative decisions and modifications
3. Acknowledge that AIMRO may review submissions for compliance with these standards
4. Understand that works found to lack sufficient human authorship may be removed from the platform

Disclosure Obligations

Consistent with the Copyright Office's guidance, AIMRO requires creators to disclose the use of AI tools in the creation of registered works. The Copyright Office has stated that applicants have a duty to disclose AI-generated content in copyright registration applications. AIMRO's registration process is designed to satisfy this disclosure requirement and create a clear record of both AI and human contributions.

Evolving Legal Landscape

Copyright law as it applies to AI-generated works is rapidly evolving. The U.S. Copyright Office continues to study these issues, and courts are beginning to address related questions. AIMRO monitors these developments closely and will update this policy as new guidance, rulings, or legislation emerges. We encourage creators to stay informed and to err on the side ofmaximizing their documented human creative involvement in every work.

Key References

• Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence — U.S. Copyright Office (February 2023)
• Copyright Office Launches AI Initiative — Copyright Office Newsnet (2023)
• Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices (Third Edition) — Section 313.2 on Human Authorship Requirement